And? No proof he initiated the conflict. Blame the pos DA for this mess - no one else

There's no proof EITHER man started the fight, dude. We agree on that. The word of liars isn't proof.

So yes, without a witness, the shooter walks. Dead men tell no lies. And the shoot itself was legal - I think zimm did fear for his life, he certainly was screaming like a bitch.

The thing is - He ran with a gun, for 2 blocks, into what became the situation. He called the kid names and accused him of things, and ran into a fight. THAT is something the law should forbid. I would LOVE to see this incidient happen in NYC... "Hey, judge, he swung first after I chased him 2 blocks into an alley without witnesses, one thing led to another, and BOOM, here we are..."

bwahahaha zimm's ass would be doing 25 years right now, dude. But in FL, the law is just so wide open

It's funny... you dislike NYC gun laws because the hate on permits, etc. I dislike FL laws because they're SO vague and allow angry cowboys to pick up a piece and create a situation where others will use force.

If a dude with gun chases me for 2 blocks, ain't no conversation - I fear for my life. As does anyone with a fcking brain lol.

There's no proof EITHER man started the fight, dude. We agree on that. The word of liars isn't proof.

So yes, without a witness, the shooter walks. Dead men tell no lies. And the shoot itself was legal - I think zimm did fear for his life, he certainly was screaming like a bitch.

The thing is - He ran with a gun, for 2 blocks, into what became the situation. He called the kid names and accused him of things, and ran into a fight. THAT is something the law should forbid. I would LOVE to see this incidient happen in NYC... "Hey, judge, he swung first after I chased him 2 blocks into an alley without witnesses, one thing led to another, and BOOM, here we are..."

bwahahaha zimm's ass would be doing 25 years right now, dude. But in FL, the law is just so wide open

It's funny... you dislike NYC gun laws because the hate on permits, etc. I dislike FL laws because they're SO vague and allow angry cowboys to pick up a piece and create a situation where others will use force.

If a dude with gun chases me for 2 blocks, ain't no conversation - I fear for my life. As does anyone with a fcking brain lol.

Prosecutors dropped assault charges against George Zimmerman stemming from a domestic dispute involving his girlfriend last month, a Florida State Attorney said on Wednesday.

The case against Zimmerman, who was acquitted this summer in the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, fell apart after his girlfriend, Samantha Scheibe, withdrew a domestic violence allegation, Seminole-Brevard State Attorney Phil Archer, said in a statement.

The sheriff's department had probable cause to arrest Zimmerman at the time of the incident, Archer said.

"However, upon reviewing the recent affidavit ... and taking into account the conflicting statements about what occurred, the failure to cooperate with the ongoing investigation, and a lack of any other corroborating evidence or witnesses, there is no reasonable likelihood of successful prosecution," Archer said.

Zimmerman, 30, was arrested Nov. 18 after he allegedly pointed a shotgun at his girlfriend during a domestic dispute at the house in central Florida he shared with her.

Zimmerman faced three charges including aggravated assault, a felony, as well as two misdemeanors, domestic violence battery and criminal mischief.

Scheibe, 27, told police that at one point during a verbal altercation Zimmerman grabbed a shotgun and pointed it at her, broke a glass table and pushed her out the door.

He then barricaded the door with furniture, police said. Scheibe suffered no injuries during the incident.

Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch captain, was acquitted on July 13 of murdering Martin as the 17-year-old walked back to the townhouse where he was staying after buying snacks at a nearby convenience store.

Zimmerman said he shot Martin in February 2012 in self defense. The shooting and trial polarized the U.S. public on issues of race, gun laws and self-defense laws.

Since his acquittal, Zimmerman has had several brushes with law enforcement officials. He has twice been stopped for speeding, once in Texas and in Florida.

In September, Zimmerman was questioned by police after his estranged wife called 911 saying he threatened her with a gun. He was not charged in the incident, which occurred a week after she filed for divorce.

NBA superstar Kobe Bryant (r.) said his opinion on the trial of George Zimmerman (l.) in the shooting of Trayvon Martin was not based on race. (AP)The next issue of the New Yorker has barely hit newsstands and already a comment from Kobe Bryant hinting that he may not be in lockstep with the black community on the Trayvon Martin shooting has people calling for a boycott of the Laker superstar’s gear.

In a wide-ranging interview, the future Hall of Famer was asked about the Miami Heat’s show of solidarity for Martin, the 17-year-old African-American shot to death in Florida by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who was acquitted last year of second degree murder. Bryant he seemed to take exception to the idea that African-Americans should base their opinions on race.

“I won’t react to something just because I’m supposed to, because I’m an African-American,” Bryant said. “That argument doesn’t make any sense to me. So we want to advance as a society and a culture, but, say, if something happens to an African-American we immediately come to his defense? Yet you want to talk about how far we’ve progressed as a society? Well, we’ve progressed as a society, then don’t jump to somebody’s defense just because they’re African-American. You sit and you listen to the facts just like you would in any other situation, right? So I won’t assert myself.”

Although the 35-year-old Bryant, who spent much of his childhood in Italy, where his father was a professional basketball player, did not take a position on the merits of the case against Zimmerman, critics came down hard. Hall of Fame NFL running back Jim Brown told the article’s author Bryant doesn’t understand the African-American culture.

“[Kobe] is somewhat confused about culture, because he was brought up in another country,” Brown said.

On Thursday, self-described civil rights activist Najee Ali, director of Project Islamic H.O.P.E., angrily called for a boycott of all things Bryant.

“African American youth should no longer buy Bryant’s jerseys or shoes and should boycott all products he endorses,” Ali said in a statement. “Bryant doesn’t identify with the struggle that our African-American youth face nationally. So why should we continue to support Bryant who has never truly identified with the African American experience.”

Hours later, Bryant tweeted support for Martin, saying “Travon (sic) Martin was wronged THATS my opinion and thats what I believe the FACTS showed. The system did not work #myopinion #tweetURthoughts.”

Martin was killed Feb. 26, 2012, as he passed through the gated, Sanford, Fla., community where Zimmerman lived and served as a watch volunteer. The shooting prompted protests that the teen was deemed suspicious by Zimmerman because he was black and wearing a hoodie, and that charges were delayed because of Martin's race. President Obama weighed in, saying that "If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon." The Miami Heat, including Bryant's rival superstar LeBron James, posed in a photo just weeks after the shooting, with players wearing hoodies in support of Martin.

At trial, Zimmerman's defense attorneys argued successfully that Zimmerman shot the teen with his licensed handgun only after he was attacked and in fear of his life.

Names of six jurors who acquitted George Zimmerman made publicBy Jeff Weiner and Rene Stutzman, Staff WritersApril 3, 2014

The names of the six-member jury panel that acquitted George Zimmerman in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin have been made public for the first time, after a new court order, records show.

Circuit Judge Debra Nelson, who had previously ordered the jurors' identifying information be kept confidential, granted access to the names in a ruling March 21.

Zimmerman's defense asked the judge in June to keep the names secret until six months after the verdict. The judge set no timeline then, but noted in her new order they have been withheld more than eight months.

Attempts to reach the jurors by phone and in-person Thursday were unsuccessful.

In Florida, the names of jurors are typically public and are announced and used by the judge and attorneys during jury selection.

Nelson's order follows an inquiry last month by the Sentinel.

In a letter, Sentinel attorneys asked Nelson for a specific ruling on how long she planned to maintain the jurors' anonymity, noting it was already "well past the six month 'cooling off' period requested by the defense."

The defense, in its motion, argued a delay was needed beyond the trial to allow "for any community passions to cool."

The Sentinel and other media outlets opposed that delay.

On July 13, Zimmerman was found not guilty of second-degree murder in Trayvon's death. The Feb. 26, 2012, shooting in Sanford renewed national debate on a range of issues, including profiling and self-defense.

The not-guilty verdict sparked protests across the country.

Prosecutors alleged Zimmerman profiled, pursued and killed the unarmed Miami Gardens teenager. Zimmerman, now 30, said he fired in self-defense while being pummeled by Trayvon during an unprovoked attack.

A Sanford judge today put an end to George Zimmerman's libel suit against NBC Universal.

Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson ruled that the former Neighborhood Watch volunteer is entitled to no money from the media giant.

She issued a summary judgment in the network's favor, meaning that unless an appeals court reverses her, the case is now dead.

Zimmerman had filed suit two years ago, accusing NBC of falsely portraying him as a racist in a series of broadcasts shortly after he killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old, in Sanford.

Editors shortened audio from a 911 call Zimmerman made to a police dispatcher the night of the shooting, making it sound as if Zimmerman volunteered that Trayvon was black and that he racially profiled the Miami Gardens teenager.

Those edited clips aired four times in March 2012.

In addition, Zimmerman accused the news organization of defaming him in a separate broadcast by falsely reporting that he used a racial epithet in the same call.

The network fired two employees who were involved in the edits and made a public apology.

At a hearing June 19, NBC attorney Lee Levine asked the judge to end the suit with a judgment in the network's favor.

Zimmerman is a public figure, Levine said, and could not prove that he was the victim of "actual malice", meaning that NBC employees either knew what they reported was false or had serious misgivings about it.

In her ruling, issued shortly before 9 a.m. today, Nelson wrote that that's where Zimmerman's suit fell apart.

"There exists absolutely no clear and convincing evidence that defendants knew that the information published was false at the time it was published, or recklessly disregarded the truth or falsity of those statements. …," she wrote.

Zimmerman also alleged that the network intentionally inflicted emotional distress. Nelson shot down that claim, too.

In her 15-page order, she pointed out that time and again in March 2012 - the period during which Zimmerman claims NBC defamed him – the network quoted family members and friends who emphasized that Zimmerman was not a racist.

She also picked up on a tiny detail from the 911 call: that midway through the conversation, Zimmerman pointed out Trayvon's race a second time, and that time it was without prompting.

"He's got his hand in his waistband. And he's a black male," the then-Neighborhood Watch volunteer said.

The edits, the judge wrote, were not material changes.

As for the racial epithet, the judge wrote that the FBI did an analysis of the recording and concluded it was impossible to make out what Zimmerman had said. Given that, she wrote, it would be impossible for him to prove that NBC got that fact wrong.

In a one-sentence prepared statement, NBC News today said it "is gratified by the court's dismissal of this lawsuit, which we have always believed to be without merit."

Clearly, the judge agreed.

By the time NBC aired the reports that Zimmerman claimed made him look like a racist stalker, a great many other news organizations had for weeks aired or published reports about Trayvon's death and had raised the issue of racial profiling, the judge wrote.

"Zimmerman and his family had received death threats and had gone into hiding long before any of the challenged broadcasts," she wrote.

Zimmerman had made himself more difficult to defame, the judge wrote, because he had voluntarily made himself a public figure long before the shooting. In 2010, when the Sanford Police Department refused for weeks to arrest the son of a white police officer who had punched and broken the nose of a homeless black man, Zimmerman publicly protested.

That was an example, Nelson wrote, of Zimmerman "voluntarily injecting his views into the public controversy surrounding race relations and public safety in Sanford."

She went on to describe Zimmerman as having "pursued a course of conduct that ultimately led to the death of (Trayvon) Martin."

Pictures: Orange County Jail mug shots

Zimmerman's attorney, James Beasley Jr. of Philadelphia, was not available for comment this morning.

He had argued that it would be premature to throw out the suit, given that he had not yet begun to collect evidence.

He intended to take sworn statements from or check the network's communications with several people, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist who led rallies, calling for Zimmerman's arrest, and Special Prosecutor Angela Corey.

Zimmerman told police he acted in self-defense. He was acquitted of second-degree murder last year.

His future is not clear. Still pending is a federal investigation into whether he violated Trayvon's civil rights. He's also in the middle of a contentious divorce. In pleadings filed earlier this month, he described himself as jobless, homeless and deeply in debt.

Thomas and LoCicero, one of the law firms that represents NBC, also represents the Orlando Sentinel.

The Justice Department is not expected to bring civil rights charges against George Zimmerman in the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, according to three law enforcement officials, despite allegations that the killing was racially motivated.

The federal investigation of Zimmerman was opened two years ago by the department’s civil rights division, but officials said there is insufficient evidence to bring federal charges. The investigation technically remains open, but it is all but certain the department will close it.

Investigators still want to “dot their i’s and cross their t’s,” said one official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on the matter.

Martin, a 17-year-old African American from Florida, was unarmed when he was fatally shot by Zimmerman, a former volunteer neighborhood watchman who identifies himself as Hispanic. The killing sparked racial tension and protests across the country and drew emotional responses from President Obama and other top administration officials.

Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter in a state trial in Sanford, Fla., last year. Even so, civil rights and African American organizations urged Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to bring a federal civil rights case against him.

On Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department said the investigation “is active and ongoing.”

An attorney for Martin’s family said his parents have not heard a final decision from U.S. officials.

“Trayvon’s parents continue to hope and pray for justice, and they won’t have any comments until they hear officially from the Justice Department,” said Benjamin Crump, who also represents the family of 18-year-old Michael Brown, whose shooting by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., in August also prompted a public outcry.

Mark O’Mara, the lawyer who represented Zimmerman, said that approximately 40 witness statements collected by investigators in 2012 indicated there was no evidence to support a civil rights prosecution.

“I was watching the whole case pretty closely for two years, and they didn’t do anything except take those 40 statements,” O’Mara said. The statements “suggested that George acted in very non-racist ways. He took a black girl to the prom. His best buddy was a black guy. He mentored two black kids. He sought justice for a black homeless man beaten up by a white cop’s son.”

“To those who have seen civil rights investigations and civil rights violations,” he said, “it looked as though the Department of Justice was just placating pressure that existed by suggesting there was an ongoing investigation.”

The difficulty in bringing charges in the Martin case highlights the challenges for investigators in federal criminal civil rights cases. Under federal law for hate crimes, prosecutors would have to show not just that Zimmerman followed Martin because of his race but also that he shot the youth intentionally because he was African American.

A similarly high standard would apply to the case of Brown, an African American who was shot at least six times by Darren Wilson, a white police officer in Ferguson.

At a news conference last month to announce an investigation into the Ferguson police department, Holder was asked about the lingering civil rights probe into the Martin homicide.

“That investigation’s ongoing,” he told reporters. “There are active steps that we are still in the process of taking. There are witnesses who we want to speak to as a result of some recent developments.”

Two law enforcement officials said federal investigators wanted to look at a computer belonging to Zimmerman that had not been examined for the state trial in Florida.

One official with knowledge of the case said it was highly unlikely that the computer would have any evidence indicating that when Zimmerman fatally shot Martin he acted with the intent to deprive Martin of his civil rights.

Federal officials have privately said all along that a civil rights case against Zimmerman would be hard to prove.

“These are very difficult cases to make,” said one law enforcement official with knowledge of the case. “There is a high burden. We have to prove that a person was doing this with the intent of depriving someone of his civil rights.”

The investigation of the Brown shooting is being conducted under a different federal civil rights statute, the one governing official misconduct. Under that statute, it is a crime for law enforcement officers to act unreasonably and willfully to deprive a person of a constitutional right.

The Justice Department has other high-profile civil rights investigations that remain open, including one into the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant III by a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer in Oakland, Calif., on New Year’s Day 2009.

The officer, Johannes Mehserle, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in 2010 but not guilty of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter in the shooting of Grant, who was unarmed. The case was featured in the movie “Fruitvale Station.”

Scarborough: Trayvon Was Chased and Shot 'Because He Was Black'By Mark Finkelstein | November 24, 2014

You'd think Joe Scarborough would have learned by now to avoid inflammatory statements about the Trayvon Martin case. Back when that case first broke, Scarborough immediately branded George Zimmerman a "murderer," an accusation for which he later declined to apologize because he was not currently in office.

But there was Scarborough at it again this morning. On today's Morning Joe, he sought to contrast the Michael Brown case with that of Trayvon Martin. In Ferguson, "we don't know the evidence," said Joe. Whereas in the Trayvon Martin case, said Scarborough, "you had a guy chase a guy around a neighborhood and shoot him because he was black."

May we remind Scarborough that: Zimmerman was acquitted. Zimmerman suffered injuries to the back of his head consistent with Martin being on top during their struggle. It was Scarborough's own network that doctored the 911 tape to falsely make it appear that Zimmerman was pursuing Martin because he was black.

JOE SCARBOROUGH: [In Ferguson] we don't know the evidence. We just don't know the evidence. It's not like Trayvon, where you had a guy chase a guy around a neighborhood and shoot him because he was black.